7 tips on how to get better at sim racing

I know you landed to this page thinking we’ll just give you some crappy tricks copied from somewhere else, if not created by an AI tool.

Well, this time you are wrong 🙂

As one of the slowest sim racers ever, I’m not really entitled to give you many suggestions on how to get better at sim racing, but I definitely have lots of experience in what does not improve your performance at all.

Nevertheless, if even a non-talented driver like me managed to get in the midfield, there is some hope for everyone.

Here a list of what made me leave the last position of the grid:

1. Copying other sim racers on Youtube: Checking breaking points, studying videos of other drivers can be a great way to learn a track or find a way to improve your lap time. Once done, the biggest challenge is that you’ll need to have the sensibility to replicate it yourself, and the muscle memory to be consistent lap over lap. This come with practice, amassing hours of laps: you can be a talented sim racer but to make it to the top of the ranks a certainty is that you will have to spend quite some time at the simulator.
   
2. Compete: Personally, the best way to achieve consistency is under the stress of a race. It does not matter if you’re at the lowest split, the level of focus you can have during an official session can boost your performance and your learning.
   
3. Focus: Put your headphones on, lock your door, get rid of your phone and other distractions: you cannot grow unless you are 100% focused on your racing.
   
4. Use telemetry: Using an app like the one from Virtual Racing School (for iRacing users only) can provide you with a lot of insights. You will be able to compare yourself against the top drivers and analyze your lap-by-lap performance. It’s also helpful for longer races, as it can assist with creating strategies for fuel, tire degradation, and more. If you’re not using iRacing, other games such as Assetto Corsa or rFactor also have telemetry apps available.
   
5. Get a comfortable setup: When it comes to speed, it doesn’t really matter if you’re sitting on an office chair or the most expensive racing seat, as long as you’re comfortable. Some may argue that a good racing seat can help with immersion and prepare you to perform, though…
   
6. Pedals! The main peripheral for setting faster lap times is a good set of pedals. A strong brake pedal, equipped with a load cell, will make your life much easier. With it, you will be much more precise and consistent. It’s not just about knowing when to brake at a specific corner; you will have to apply the same pressure lap after lap, even when you are tired or under the pressure of a possible overtake.
   
7. Input lag and response time You might have heard of it before it you are a gamer: Input lag measures the delay between what you do with your controllers and what you will see in the screen. If goes without saying that if the lag is too high your gaming experience will be worse and this will also impact your performance as you will always be a bit behind in your reaction and breaking points. For this, other than a good computer, it’s important to keep a few things in mind
   1. A good performing computer and CPU
   2. A monitor with a monitor with as less ms of response time and as many hz of refresh rate as possible (ideally 1-5 ms and >144hz). Usually this would be a gaming monitor and not a “normal” monitor or tv
   3. Software settings – enable gaming mode and all other options you have to avoid slowing the response time